1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for making a hologram sticker, and more particularly to a method that plates a metal layer on a first releasing layer on which a hologram is formed, printing an epoxy layer over the hologram and then chemically etching away the metal layer not covered by the epoxy layer. A layer of adhesive is applied to the epoxy layer. A second releasing layer is applied to the epoxy layer to form a sticker without having to cut the stickers out. The present invention further relates to the structure of a hologram sticker, wherein a plating treatment forms a metal layer on the first releasing layer. A hologram is formed on the metal layer. Thereafter, a layer of epoxy and a layer of adhesive are sequentially printed over the hologram on top of one another and a second releasing layer is applied to the adhesive to thus form a hologram sticker without the necessity of cutting out the stickers.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventional hologram stickers are generally one of two kinds, and both require cutting to release the final sticker product.
With reference to FIG. 8, a first conventional sticker has a substrate (60), a layer of adhesive (61), a releasing layer (62) and a pattern (63). The substrate (60) is made of a sheet of paper or plastic. The layer of adhesive (61) is added on the bottom of the substrate (60). The releasing layer (62) is added on the bottom of the adhesive layer (61) to form a base of the sticker. The pattern (63) is printed on top of the substrate (60) by laser hot stamping. When the foregoing structure is completed, a blade cuts out the pattern (63) along cutting lines (64) around the pattern (63) to release the finished product.
With reference to FIG. 9, a second conventional sticker has a base (70), a plated layer (71), an adhesive layer (72) and a releasing layer (73). The plated layer (71) is directly applied on top of the base (70). The adhesive layer (72) is applied on the bottom of the base (70). The releasing layer (73) removably covers the exposed surface of the adhesive layer (72). When the layered structure is finished, a cutting blade with a particular pattern is applied to the completed layered structure to release the final sticker product along cutting lines (74).
Both of the stickers need a cutting blade to define the pattern of the sticker. Because the blade cannot precisely replicate the pattern, a rough contour is produced when the sticker is cut in either situation, which makes the sticker, when applied, unsightly and messy.
Thus, it is concluded that the conventional sticker cannot achieve the delicate requirement to form a perfect sticker.
In order to accomplish the desired delicate pattern on a sticker without the use of cutting blade, there is a structure introduced in the market to meet the requirement. The structure has a base (80), an adhesive layer (81) applied on a bottom of the base (80), a releasing layer (82) applied immediately to the adhesive layer (81), a plated layer (83) formed on a top of the base (80) and an oily paint layer (84) printed on a top of the plated layer (83) and having a specific pattern. Thereafter, the plated layer (83) with no oily paint layer (84) covered is removed by etching with an alkaline solution. When the sticker of this type is in use, firstly the releasing layer (82) is removed and the base (80) together with the plated layer (83) and the oily paint layer (84) are applied as a whole. It is to be noted that when the sticker is applied onto a surface, the entirety of the base (80) is also applied on the surface, which can not meet the requirement of delicacy in the sticker.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention intends to provide a cutting-free method and an improved structure of a hologram sticker to mitigate and obviate the aforementioned problems.
The main objective of the invention is to provide a cutting-free method for making a hologram sticker, which includes the steps of adding a releasing layer on a base layer; plating a metal layer on the releasing layer; printing an epoxy layer with a pattern on top of the metal layer; chemically etching the plated metal layer to remove the excess metal layer not covered by the epoxy layer; washing the residual layers; drying the washed and etched layers; applying an adhesive layer on top of the washed epoxy layer and applying a releasing layer on top of the adhesive layer.
Another objective of the invention is to provide an improved sticker structure including a base, a first releasing layer, a plating layer, an epoxy layer, an adhesive layer and a second releasing layer.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.